He's looking real sharp in his 1940's fedora. He's got nerves of steel, an iron will, and several other metal-themed attributes. His fur is water tight and he's always up for a fight.

He's a semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal of action. He's a furry little flat-foot who'll never flinch from a fray. He's got more than just mad skills, he's got a beaver tail and a bill.

Nice.

I think that autism is nuanced in that it is caused by multiple factors, and when those factors all come together, you get worse cases, and where there is a single factor that is high and the other low, you may not see any problems at all. Regardless, the more contributing factors we find, the better. More likely there is a specific thing in the air pollution that is affecting this, and hopefully we can find that, too.

IF this is true, it could be huge. The Autism cases they know about are one thing, they are just the easiest to diagnose. Think of all the kids/adults who have been affected to a lesser degree. How many people might have had extra challenges in life because of this? Obviously there is nothing that can be done retroactively if it is the case. Though there will be legions of lawyers pouring over information looking to place blame.

In reading the study, there does appear to be a relatively small population pool to use for generalization. However, among that pool, there were statistically significant results. I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet, but this certainly warrants further study. More than air quality, are there other measures that families of autistic kids might have in common? Those should be looked at too.

In reading the study, there does appear to be a relatively small population pool to use for generalization. However, among that pool, there were statistically significant results. I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet, but this certainly warrants further study. More than air quality, are there other measures that families of autistic kids might have in common? Those should be looked at too.

Yeah, there are plenty of other unhealthy chemicals around besides in the air.

I think that autism is nuanced in that it is caused by multiple factors, and when those factors all come together, you get worse cases, and where there is a single factor that is high and the other low, you may not see any problems at all. Regardless, the more contributing factors we find, the better. More likely there is a specific thing in the air pollution that is affecting this, and hopefully we can find that, too.

This.

There is a significant amount of research coming out now that is also showing that nutrition while pregnant has a major influence on a child's immune system for the rest of their life, and how they respond to disease. Lots of factors, it seems.

I think that autism is nuanced in that it is caused by multiple factors, and when those factors all come together, you get worse cases, and where there is a single factor that is high and the other low, you may not see any problems at all. Regardless, the more contributing factors we find, the better. More likely there is a specific thing in the air pollution that is affecting this, and hopefully we can find that, too.

This.

There is a significant amount of research coming out now that is also showing that nutrition while pregnant has a major influence on a child's immune system for the rest of their life, and how they respond to disease. Lots of factors, it seems.

After doing some more digging, it does not appear that India has any hard numbers for autism. I found that South Korea has 1 in 38 kids having autism according to one of their studies, but I did not find the reference to that study. It looks like we're about 1 in 50 here in the US.

After doing some more digging, it does not appear that India has any hard numbers for autism. I found that South Korea has 1 in 38 kids having autism according to one of their studies, but I did not find the reference to that study.

South Korea's air is pretty polluted, from what I've heard. We were thinking of possibly living there for a while until we learned this. A lot of the pollution drifts over from China...

Does anyone have any info on Canada? I can't seem to find anything useful in terms of numbers. Judging by the stark difference in landscape just going over the Ambassador Bridge to Canada from Detroit, I would expect our cleaner neighbor to the north to be fairing a bit better overall than we are in terms of autism, if air pollution is the issue.

Does anyone have any info on Canada? I can't seem to find anything useful in terms of numbers. Judging by the stark difference in landscape just going over the Ambassador Bridge to Canada from Detroit, I would expect our cleaner neighbor to the north to be fairing a bit better overall than we are in terms of autism, if air pollution is the issue.

Not sure the level of pollution is much different in Windsor than Detroit, but they do keep the streets cleaner. (Or used to, it's starting to look run down, but not bombed out, yet.)

Does anyone have any info on Canada? I can't seem to find anything useful in terms of numbers. Judging by the stark difference in landscape just going over the Ambassador Bridge to Canada from Detroit, I would expect our cleaner neighbor to the north to be fairing a bit better overall than we are in terms of autism, if air pollution is the issue.

Not sure the level of pollution is much different in Windsor than Detroit, but they do keep the streets cleaner. (Or used to, it's starting to look run down, but not bombed out, yet.)